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REP Coalition Urge TPUC To Act Upon On Petition To Designate New ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service As A/S Product Increasing Costs Beyond Reps’ Control, Allowing Adjustment To Fixed Rates
The Texas Energy Association for Marketers (TEAM) and Alliance for Retail Markets (ARM) (collectively, REP Coalition) urged the Texas PUC to act on a pending partial appeal of an ALJ’s order concerning the appropriate notice required for the PUC to address the REPs’ petition which requests that the PUC designate the new ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS) as an, “ancillary service product as incurring charges beyond the REP’s control for a customer’s existing contract”, which would allow REPs to apply a one-time price adjustment to a fixed rate contract that was executed before the implementation of this new ancillary service.As reported previously, an ALJ had ordered that, among other notice, REPs shall publish notice of their petition in a newspaper in each county in which an affected customer resides, and that REPs post notice on their websites.
The REP Coalition appealed those two aspects of the order, calling them, “unprecedented for competitive entities and rate-regulated entities, and … not consistent with the Commission’s rules.”
From the REP Coalition’s Appeal of Interim Order No. 4:
{***}The Texas Energy Association for Marketers (TEAM) and Alliance for Retail Markets (ARM) (collectively, REP Coalition) respectfully filed an appeal of portions of Interim Order No. 4 determining the form of notice to be provided in this proceeding.1 On February 12, 2024, the Commission Advising Division of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (Commission) issued a memo that the appeal would be considered for an extension of time on March 7,2024. At the open meeting on March 7,2024, the Commission voted to extend time to act on the appeal. As of the date of this filing, the Commission has not taken up the substantive question in this appeal, which involves only the question of the appropriate notice for this proceeding.
As an update to the Commission, the forms of notice that were included in Order No. 4 that were originally recommended by Commission Staff have been issued, and proof of that notice has been filed in this docket (i.e., Electric Reliability Council of Texas Market Notice and Texas Register Notice). More than 30 days have expired since that notice was issued and no parties have sought to intervene since the issuance of that notice.
Time is of the essence in this proceeding and the REP Coalition respectfully requests that the Commission schedule consideration of this appeal on the next open meeting. This proceeding was initiated to allow determination of the substantive issue before the Summer season-whether or not ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service caused retail electric providers to incur a cost or fee beyond their control for contracts that were in existence at the time of the new ancillary service was issued. The REP Coalition continues to believe that this case can proceed expeditiously, with minimal demand on Commission Staff resources once the issue of notice is resolved. 1 Order No. 4 Specifying Notice Requirements and Establishing Procedural Schedule (Jan. 26,2024).
Accordingly, the REP Coalition respectfully requests that the Commission take up consideration of the partial appeal of Order No. 4 to answer the questions of (1) whether the REP associations should be required to publish notice of this proceeding in newspapers covering every county in Texas, and (2) whether individual REPs who are not parties to this proceeding should be ordered to post information regarding this proceeding on their websites. {***}
Supplement to REP Coalition’s Appeal of Interim Order No. 4 (04/12/2024)
55959 (Opened 12/08/2023)
Joint Petition Of Texas Energy Association For Marketers And Alliance For Retail Markets For Designation Under 16 TAC § 25.475(B)(5)
